Source: Apple
What you need to know
- Customers in Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales can now make iPhone Upgrade Program reservations.
- Until today, this was unavailable because Apple's online system wouldn't work without England stores offering the same thing.
- Stores in England remain open only for click-and-collect, as well as returns, but not the iPhone Upgrade Program.
Customers in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland can now reserve the iPhone 12 as part of the iPhone Upgrade Program, following a system update from Apple Retail.
In the UK, Apple stores in England have been closed except for click-and-collect since November 5, and will remain so until at least December 2 as part of national lockdown measures.
This has meant that the iPhone Upgrade Program has been unavailable to customers in England because UK stores can only process iUP in-store (the option to have your iPhone delivered and return your old one by post with a Trade-In Kit is not supported in the UK).
An unfortunate side effect meant that iPhone Upgrade customers in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland were also unable to make reservations because of the way Apple's retail system seems to operate in the UK.
Now rectified, customers in these three nations can now make reservations for the iPhone Upgrade Program and then head into store to exchange their old device and renew their agreement. The change comes just in time for the release of the iPhone 12 Pro Max and iPhone 12 mini today, Friday, November 13.
Stores in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland remain open in a limited capacity depending on local restrictions. Victoria Square in Belfast, NI, is only accepting customers to pick up online orders (including iUP reservations), and Genius Bar Support. Apple's Cardiff store, Apple Glasgow, Apple Union Square in Aberdeen, and Apple Princes St in Edinburgh are operating in the same manner, with the added option of shopping by reserving a one-to-one session with a specialist. Apple Braehead in Glasgow, a mall store, remains closed at this time.
As noted, stores in England are closed under government guidelines except for click-and-collect services (including returns, not including iPhone upgrade program), until at least December 2.
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